The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-199) represented a historic piece of legislation designed to improve outcomes for and provide a comprehensive response to the increasing number of individuals who are released from prisons, jails, and juvenile residential facilities, and returning to communities upon release. The Second Chance Act's…

In what ways can teachers build on youth culture to improve learning opportunities in the classroom? In this fascinating and highly readable collection, Korina M. Jocson brings together more than two dozen scholars, artists, educators, and youth workers to illustrate how nondominant youth can be engaged through various social justice arts…

The purpose of this study was to explore clinical psychologist trainees' perceptions of incarcerated individuals after a practicum experience at a local jail. A qualitative methodology, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, was utilized to explore subjective experiences and determine if participants' attitudes and beliefs were challenged with…

This paper is a narrative analysis of the accounts of six older people with Down's syndrome who spent part of their childhood in institutional environments. The study aimed to find out how the participants talked about themselves. Different types of narrative analysis were used, including those of Murray ("Qualitative psychology: a practical guide…

This article examines the workings of the music class at the Santa Ana Jail in Santa Ana, California. It gives us insight into a jail system and a music class focused on helping inmates position themselves to become productive members of society. In this article I examine how the facility encourages inmates' good behaviour and why the music class…

Incarcerated men, most of whom are recidivists, are disproportionately black. Much literature about prison ex-inmates reports on this disparity, yet little is known about racial disparity in recidivism rates among jail ex-inmates. This study examined recidivism rates and survival time (period from release date to rearrest) among male ex-inmates…

Sentencing juveniles to life-without-parole (JLWOP) is a practice fraught with ethical dilemmas. Through in-depth interviews with 11 men living sentences of JLWOP, their narratives of their backgrounds and experiences as juveniles were studied. Common themes were identified, and 3 general categories of cases emerged from the narratives. Ethical…

Little information is available on the provision of physical fitness and intervention program among people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study is to provide information of examining the effectiveness of healthy physical fitness programs on people with intellectual disabilities living in a disability institution. There were 146…

This original account is based on the author's experiences with incarcerated girls participating in "Girl Time", a program created by a theatre company that conducts playwriting and performance workshops in youth detention centers. In addition to examining the lives of these and other formerly incarcerated girls, "Girl Time" shares the stories of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the risk factors and the impact of a prostitution diversion program on prostitution recidivism. Risk factors and recidivism were explored using chi-square, t tests, and survival analysis. Participants were 448 individuals who were arrested for prostitution and attended a prostitution-focused diversion…

Justice-involved adolescents engage in high levels of risky sexual behavior, underscoring the need for targeted, effective, prevention interventions geared toward this population. In a randomized controlled trial, 484 detained adolescents received a theory-based intervention or an information-only control. We have previously demonstrated that the…

The present study examined whether a sample of 214 (52.8% male, M age = 15.76, SD = 1.29) institutionalized adolescents could be classified into subgroups based on psychopathic traits. Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed a relationship between the subscales of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) and the three latent constructs of the…

On a typical day in 2008, 776,573 individuals were behind bars in nearly 3,500 U.S. jails. Yet the potential benefits of social services in achieving lower recidivism rates and successful reintegration are understudied in jail populations. This three-year study investigated the effects of collaboration-based in-jail services and postrelease…

Literacy and parenting programmes in US prisons tend to be generic and skills-oriented, insensitive to pressing personal needs of parents and their distant children. This study reports on a prison-based family/art/literacy programme that attended to the local needs and interests of participants through a mural project. The article describes some…

This article describes the psychometric properties of the "Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments", the revised version of Grisso's "Miranda" instruments. The original instruments demonstrated good reliability and validity in a normative sample. The revised instruments updated the content of the original instruments and were…